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Ombudsman report in city hands

Investigation into closed December meeting reviewed by councillors; outcome remains confidential

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

Ontario’s watchdog has completed its investigation into city council’s closed education and training session on Dec. 17 – but what it uncovered remains under wraps, for now.

In a closed meeting on Monday, in the afternoon prior to the regularly scheduled council meeting, councillors discussed the report’s findings at length, remaining in closed session for more than an hour.

The investigation was initiated in January following an anonymous complaint to the ombudsman’s office that a closed education and training session council held with the Oshawa Power and Utilities Corporation (OPUC) to discuss “local distribution company trends in Ontario,” according to the public agenda, was improperly closed.

After the meeting, Mayor John Henry says he is unable to comment on the report, as per the ombudsman’s orders.

“I really can’t comment on it, as per the ombudsman,” he said. “The ombudsman directed us to have a meeting, we reviewed it and, in the end, it will all be public.”

Under the ombudsman’s process, a preliminary report is provided to the municipality, at which point they have the opportunity to comment and provide feedback on the findings. Those comments are sent back to the ombudsman, after which the ombudsman will consider them before making the report public.

Henry says he is unsure when that will happen.

“We have no idea. We have an obligation to fulfill, we’re working on that and then from that it will be what they do,” he said.

While it still remains unclear what was discussed at that December meeting, emails obtained through freedom of information requests and previously reported on by The Oshawa Express, it is known a presentation was provided by Atul Mahajan, the OPUC’s former president and CEO, on a sensitive issue.

In an email on Dec. 14, three days before the meeting, Nadeige Carter, the executive assistant for OPUC, informed Sandra Kranc, the city’s clerk, that, “They are going to be presenting on a very sensitive topic – Atul will bring the presentation on a stick, can we ensure he gets the stick back at the end of the presentation.”

It is not known what else was discussed at the closed meeting.

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